Curry on the Catwalk.(high fashion industry in India)(Brief Article)

India has long been the source of beautiful fabrics and embroidery. But its own high-fashion design industry has been virtually nonexistent-- until now. This fall Delhi-based designer Ritu Beri presented her third women's ready-to-wear collection of sexy yet spiritual clothes in Paris. And last summer Indian designers hosted their second annual fashion week in Mumbai, with local talent Rohit Bal and Tarun Tahiliani sending out colorful Indian saris, Western-style dresses and suits, and their fusion of the two styles.

Indian fashion has become increasingly in vogue over the past few years. For his women's ready-to-wear show in October, Jean-Paul Gaultier sent out models clad in curry- and saffron-colored saris and tattooed with henna. Last July John Galliano drew from India to create an ethnic look for the Christian Dior couture collection. But now, Indian designers themselves are making fashion statements. Nicole Kidman wore a gem-embroidered gold satin tunic by Beri at the premiere of "Eyes Wide Shut" and at the Cannes Film Festival in May. British actress Judi Dench wore gowns by Mumbai-based designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla to the Oscars. And former U.S. president Bill Clinton stepped out this summer in a Nehru-jacket tuxedo made to order by Beri. "He looked so good in it," she quipped, "I may use him as an inspiration to design my menswear line."

It's not the first time India has gone high fashion. In the 1970s Bina Ramani made the racks at Bloomingdale's in New York, and in the 1980s Ravi and Mina Chawla sold their collection, Ravissant, at Harrods and Selfridges in London. But few Indian designers have ever made it big-- and none has lasted.

To change that, three years ago Rohit Bal, Gitanjali Kashyap and others founded the Fashion Development Corp. of India (FDCI) in Delhi to support local talent. This year the second annual Lakme India Fashion Week, held in Mumbai, featured 33 designers, 24 shows and drew 300 buyers, including representatives of Bloomingdale's and Galeries Lafayette.

Among the presenters was 29-year-old Beri, India's rising star. Beri, who studied at the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Delhi and is a protegee of French embroidery master Francois Lesage, has been an important designer in India for years. But she wanted to be more--an international brand. In 1990 she ...